Remember When?
by Lena Belle
Summary: Series of stories featuring Chuck, Blair, Serena, and Nate when they were little and more innocent . Mostly CB, with the obligatory NB and NS. Later chapters may be rated T.


Chuck sighed as he positioned himself behind the tree and began counting to twenty out loud. Hide and seek was one of his favorite games, but he hated when he was "it". Today, they had ganged up on him. He had suggested they play hide and seek and before he could blink, Blair, Nate, and Serena had shouted, "Not it!" with devious grins on their faces. Chuck had protested, but eventually gave in. There was no one else to play with, and besides, he'd only be it for one turn.

"Fifteen…sixteen…seventeen…" Behind him, he could hear Serena's giggles and the sound of dashing feet, but he resisted the urge to peek. Sure, Chuck Bass cheated on many things, but he was playing with his best friends today; he wanted to win fair and square.

"Eighteen…nineteen…TWENTY! Ready or not, here I come!" His eyes snapped open and a smirk crept over his eight-year-old features as he studied the seemingly deserted playground. Even at eight, he relished the chase.

_They didn't do such a bad job this time_, he thought to himself, as he scanned the row of thick bushes near the brick building. Usually, Nate and Serena were terrible at the game. Nate would often pick the most overused spots, for lack of creativity, and Serena was as inconspicuous as their parents were poor. Speaking of Serena, he thought he spotted a flash of golden hair behind the blue slide, but "finding" her wouldn't be nearly as fun now. Besides, Blair declared herself the best at hide and seek and Chuck couldn't possibly let _her_ win that title.

He racked his brains and, in a flash, knew exactly where she was. Her petite frame was perfect for squeezing into the tiniest spaces, and she was much too concerned with keeping her neat white dress spotless to hide somewhere where she could possibly get mud or grass stains on it. He hurried to the dark, narrow space underneath the shortest wooden tower on the playground and found her huddled and holding her breath.

"Found you!" he announced gleefully, and Serena and Nate joined in his laughter as they cautiously left their hiding spots. Blair was not pleased.

"Bass! How do you _always _find me first? Serena was _right there_!" She gestured forcefully to Serena's spot behind the slide.

"It's cause we always think the same way." Chuck said smugly. When he saw that this did nothing to appease her, he put on his best apologetic face; he hated when Blair was mad at him. Unlike Nate, she would stay mad at him for days at a time, and he found her silent treatment the most intolerable kind of all. Even in the third grade, she knew how to get Nate to do whatever she wanted, and when she was at war with Chuck, this meant forbidding him from talking to Chuck.

"Aw, Blair, don't get mad now," Nate said, soothingly. "He didn't mean it. He just found you first." Nate was the only person who could make her cave. She clasped his hand tightly and brightened.

"Alright, Nate. I'll count to twenty now,"

Blair found Nate quickly, so she, Serena, and Chuck began running to their hiding places as he counted behind the tree. Blair had just began to crawl into her best hiding spot yet when she looked up and found none other than Chuck attempting to do the same from the other opening.

"Go away, Bass!" she whispered fiercely. He stuck his tongue out at her and continued to crawl in.

"There's only enough room for one and I saw it first."

"No, I saw it first!"

"Prove it!"

"Thirteen…fourteen…"

"Just get out, Chuck!"

"NO!"

"Get out!"

"Make me!"

"Eighteen…nineteen…twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" Both froze at his words. They realized too late that with half of their bodies sticking out from each opening, they were in plain sight. Blair glared at Chuck, whose face was so close to hers that his warm breath clung to her face. Blair longed to get up and yell at him for ruining the game for her, but her sole mission now was staying quiet and hoping that Nate would find Chuck first.

"Haha, I found you!" But it was not Chuck Nate had found, nor was it Blair. Blair sighed in relief when she heard the telltale giggles ringing out loud and clear from across the playground.

"Serena, I got you!"

"You have to catch me first!" Serena shrieked back as her long legs propelled her across the pristine grass. Nate was laughing, freer in that one moment than he had ever dared to be while with Blair. Serena was fast, but she was no match for Nate, the natural athlete, and he eventually caught up with the glittering, blond streak and pinned her to the ground.

Blair sniffed in disgust as Serena's designer jeans became speckled with dirt and Nate's burgundy sweater became coated with freshly mowed grass. By now, both she and Chuck had extricated themselves from their awkward positions and were watching the golden-haired pair rolling around on the grass. She no longer felt relieved.

"I don't get it. We weren't even hidden. He could have seen us immediately." In her puzzlement, she had completely forgotten that she was mad at Chuck. Chuck took this as a good sign.

"You know Serena always has the suckiest hiding spots."

"Well then, how did you find me before you found her?" Chuck shrugged. He didn't want to tell her that he actually had found Serena first, but had sought Blair anyway. Even _he_ didn't understand why he had done this.

"They're both bad at hide and seek, while we're both good at it. You and me, we're the same."

"Eww, we are _not_ the same, Bass," she said, giving him her haughty, disdainful look. "Nate!" Her tiny, graceful legs were already bounding over to where her best friend and her boyfriend were tumbling around, tickling each other.

Chuck shoved his hands in his pockets and decided to follow her. Usually, Nate was the one who followed her, but when Serena was around and she was all but hidden to her clueless boyfriend, Chuck Bass always knew where to look.


End file.
